The PAP using the tried and trusted pork barrel politics again

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EBRC report: Opposition wards largely untouched; slight change to Aljunied GRC’s boundaries​

The Tampines GreenGem housing estate will be moved from Aljunied GRC to Tampines GRC at the next general election.ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

Kok Yufeng
Mar 11, 2025

SINGAPORE - Three polling districts in Tampines West, comprising 3,834 voters, will be moved from the opposition-held Aljunied GRC to the People’s Action Party-held Tampines GRC at the upcoming general election.

This is one of three minor changes that the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC) has recommended in its report on March 11, so that some of the electoral boundaries at the 2025 polls are aligned with key geographical features, it said.

The other two changes are to the boundaries of Holland-Bukit Timah GRC and Chua Chu Kang GRC.

The EBRC’s proposals, which have been accepted by the Government, hew to a long-standing practice of leaving opposition wards largely intact, with Sengkang GRC and Hougang SMC among nine constituencies that will not have their boundaries redrawn.

Aljunied, Sengkang and Hougang are all held by the Workers’ Party (WP).

The other seven constituencies that will have no changes to their boundaries are Bishan-Toa Payoh, Jalan Besar, Marsiling-Yew Tee and Nee Soon GRCs, as well as Bukit Panjang, Marymount and Pioneer SMCs.

This means that less than a third of the 31 constituencies at the 2020 hustings will maintain the status quo at the coming election, which must be held by November.

The three polling districts being carved out of Aljunied GRC include two areas that are bounded by Tampines Avenue 1, Tampines Avenue 10, Bedok Reservoir Road and Bedok Reservoir itself.

These two districts cover the Waterview and Tropica condominiums, as well as Tampines GreenGem and the still-under-construction Tampines GreenJade public housing estates.

The third polling district, bounded by Tampines Road, Tampines Link and Tampines Avenue 10, covers two worker dormitories, several temples and a funeral parlour.

Polling districts are sub-divisions in a constituency with at least one polling station each.

Meanwhile, in the west, Holland-Bukit Timah GRC will take in one new polling district, which is under the soon-to-be-dissolved Jurong GRC.

This polling district, which has 2,776 registered voters, lies east of Upper Bukit Timah Road. It covers a number of condominiums, including Springdale, Sherwood Towers, Garden Vista and Jardin.

Farther north, two new public housing estates under construction - Rail Green I @ CCK and Rail Green II @ CCK - will come under Chua Chu Kang GRC, bringing with them 193 registered voters from The Tennery condominium in nearby Junction 10.

The EBRC said the two Rail Green housing developments straddled the previous electoral boundary between Chua Chu Kang GRC and Holland-Bukit Timah GRC. This had been drawn based on the former railway track that no longer exists, and which has since been turned into part of the Rail Corridor.

Hence, the committee’s recommendation is to redraw this boundary so it runs along Woodlands Road instead, effectively assigning the two new estates, as well as Junction 10, to Chua Chu Kang GRC instead of Holland-Bukit Timah GRC.

With the changes, Aljunied GRC will have 144,032 voters, Tampines GRC will have 147,904 voters, Holland-Bukit Timah GRC will have 122,891 voters and Chua Chu Kang GRC will have 93,368 voters.

In terms of size, Aljunied and Tampines GRC will remain five-member wards, while Holland-Bukit Timah and Chua Chu Kang GRC will stay as four-member wards.

 

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10 key takeaways from GE2025 boundaries report​

The EBRC report, released on March 11, paves the way for the next general election, which must be held by November 2025.ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG

Anjali Raguraman
Mar 11, 2025

SINGAPORE - The Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC) has recommended that there be 18 GRCs and 15 single-member constituencies, up from the current 17 GRCs and 14 SMCs.

The EBRC report, released on March 11, paves the way for the next general election, which must be held by November 2025.

Among the changes proposed are the creation of two new four-member GRCs, one fewer five-member GRC, alongside redrawn boundaries for a slew of electoral divisions.

Here are 10 key changes from the report:

The five-member Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC that debuted in GE2001 is no more. Instead, Punggol estate will merge with Punggol West SMC to form a new four-member Punggol GRC.

The EBRC recommended this change based on the GRC having the largest increase in the number of electors since the last general election, and the estate’s continuing growth with new housing developments.

Phase two of the Punggol Point Cove development and Kempas Residences were recently completed in January 2025.

With 123,557 electors, this makes it the second largest four-member GRC after Sengkang GRC, which has 126,641 electors.

Following the creation of Punggol GRC, the remaining polling districts from the former Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC will be combined with the adjacent parts of East Coast GRC - namely Loyang and Flora estates.

These are the eastern-most parts of East Coast GRC around Changi Airport and Changi Prison Complex in Siglap ward.

This will form the four-member Pasir Ris-Changi GRC, with 100,639 electors.

East Coast GRC will absorb parts of Marine Parade GRC - namely the Housing Board estates in Chai Chee and the private estates in Siglap.

By absorbing Joo Chiat, currently overseen by Culture, Community and Youth Minister Edwin Tong, it will add over 30,000 electors and become 25 per cent larger than it was in the last election.

The upsized East Coast GRC remains a five-member constituency.

The single-seat MacPherson ward, currently helmed by MP Tin Pei Ling, will be absorbed into Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC.

The newly renamed five-member GRC will also comprise parts of Potong Pasir, as well as an adjacent polling district from Mountbatten SMC.

The EBRC said that parts of Potong Pasir SMC are being moved, owing to the high population growth there due to new housing developments in Bidadari.

Chua Chu Kang GRC will take in upcoming HDB developments - Rail Green I and II, as well as Plantation Edge I and II in Tengah - which used to straddle Chua Chu Kang GRC and Holland-Bukit Timah GRC.

It will also take in the new housing developments in Tengah, a town which is expected to grow significantly in the coming years.

In order to keep Chua Chu Kang as a four-member GRC, Bukit Gombak and Hillview estates will be carved out to form a new Bukit Gombak SMC.

The committee said that even with the Tengah estates being absorbed into Chua Chu Kang GRC, the remaining Hong Kah North SMC comprising Bukit Batok West is “still too big and growing”.

As such, it will be merged with Jurong GRC, Bukit Batok and Yuhua SMCs to form a new Jurong East-Bukit Batok GRC.

To keep the new constituency as a five-member GRC, a new Jurong Central SMC will be carved out. The GRC will also shed estates in Jurong West and Taman Jurong.

7. West Coast absorbs Taman Jurong, lose areas in Dover and Telok Blangah to become West Coast-Jurong West GRC
West Coast will gain the estates in Jurong West and Taman Jurong from the now-defunct Jurong GRC, but lose its eastern-most polling district - comprising estates in Harbourfront and Sentosa - to Radin Mas SMC.

Its estates in Dover and Telok Blangah will also be moved to next-door Tanjong Pagar GRC.

The resulting West Coast-Jurong West GRC will have 158,581 electors and be the second largest GRC after Ang Mo Kio GRC.

Polling districts in Tampines West, which are currently under Aljunied GRC, will be moved to Tampines GRC. These are the new estates near to Tampines West MRT and to the East of Bedok Reservoir.

The change comes as the committee recommended that electoral boundaries be regularised along key geographical features.

To keep four existing five-member GRCs from becoming too large, new SMCs will be carved out.

From Ang Mo Kio, a new Jalan Kayu SMC will be created. Even so, Ang Mo Kio will remain the largest GRC with 161,235 electors.

In view of the growth in Sembawang GRC and Tampines GRC, a new Sembawang West SMC and Tampines Changkat SMC will be created respectively. A new Queenstown SMC will also be carved out from Tanjong Pagar GRC.

Apart from the shifting of polling districts in Tampines West from Aljunied GRC to Tampines GRC, electoral boundaries for the other Workers’ Party-held wards of Sengkang GRC and Hougang remain unchanged.

This is in keeping with EBRC’s past practice of leaving opposition wards largely intact.

The other constituencies with status quo boundaries are Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, Jalan Besar GRC, Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC, Nee Soon GRC and the SMCs of Bukit Panjang, Marymount and Pioneer.